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Despite pandemic, North Carolina traffic deaths hit 1,500

N.C. Department of Transportation data shows the number of miles driven dropped 19% last year, but the number of fatal crashes rose 8% over the previous year.
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Horizontal shot of heavy traffic on the interstate highway.

Traffic deaths in North Carolina last year surpassed 1,500 for the first time in 13 years despite a pandemic during which motorists logged fewer miles statewide. 

The Charlotte Observer reports N.C. Department of Transportation data shows the number of miles driven dropped 19% last year, but the number of fatal crashes rose 8% over the previous year.

Mark Ezzell, Director of N.C. Governor’s Highway Safety Program, says with COVID-19, people are concentrating on their health and their financial futures and not focusing on driving. 

Ezzell says the rise in traffic deaths is a public health crisis.

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